Boosted

According to my earlier calculations, I would have had to wait until Christmas Eve to get a COVID booster shot.  Then the CDC declared that those of us who had the god sense to get a double dose of the vaccine could get a booster after six months.  So I did, this past Sunday - Halloween.

Eleven percent of Americans have gotten a booster shot, and I'm now one of them.  I feel a whole lot better, now that I've gotten the booster, and I am happy to report that my home county in New Jersey is down to a moderate level of transmission, even as much of New Jersey is still high. However, the seven-day average for the country is beginning to pick up again, just in time for the colder weather that's so favorable to respiratory viruses.  Most places even in heavily vaccinated New Jersey still require "FCs" (face coverings) even for those who can prove they've been fully vaccinated.  I've already long since decided that I will not go to any non-essential indoor public venues until the pandemic is over; given where we are with the virus, it may be a long time before I see the inside of a restaurant, museum or movie theater again. 😢     

I try to look at the bright side.  Despite the pathetic first-dose vaccination rate in These States, it's still inching up - okay, millimetering up, perhaps - and the increase in mandates may push it up even further in the coming weeks, even as children from age 5 to 11 are finally eligible for vaccination.  I keep hoping we get to the end game for this pandemic, and I hope it's in sight.

Right now I'm trying to tune out Michael Osterholm, who says it isn't.